A domain name is your website’s address (like yourbusiness.com), while web hosting is the server space and software that stores your site and delivers it to visitors.
Think of the domain as the name on your mailbox and hosting as the building that holds your pages, images, forms, and databases. You can buy the domain from one company (a registrar) and host the site with another, and that is normal for many Orlando and Central Florida businesses.
Quick comparison
| Item | What it is | What you pay for | What happens if it expires or is canceled |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domain name | Your human friendly address that points visitors to the right place online | Annual registration (usually 1 to 10 years) and optional privacy add ons | Your site and email can go offline, and someone else may be able to register the name after the grace period |
| Hosting | The server resources that run your website (files, database, PHP, caching, backups) | Monthly or annual hosting plan (shared, VPS, cloud, or managed WordPress) | Your website stops loading because the files and database are no longer being served |
| DNS | The directory that connects the domain to hosting and email services | Often included free, sometimes paid for advanced DNS | Even with a valid domain and hosting, visitors may not reach the right server if DNS is misconfigured |
Here’s how the pieces connect: your hosting company gives you a destination, like an IP address or a target hostname. Your domain uses DNS records (often an A record or CNAME) to point your domain to that destination. Sometimes you change “nameservers” at the registrar so DNS is managed by your host or a DNS provider, other times you keep DNS at the registrar and only edit the records.
Domain and hosting can live in the same account or in separate accounts. One account can feel simpler for billing, but separation can be cleaner for ownership and control, especially if you switch hosting later. The big rule we follow for clients is simple: you should own the domain registration in an account you control, even if your developer or agency manages the settings for you.
Email adds a small twist. Your branded email depends on your domain, but email itself is usually handled by a separate service (Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace). That still runs through DNS using MX records, plus SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records to cut down on spoofing and delivery problems.
If you want us to keep your site stable long term, our WordPress hosting includes the hosting side of the equation, like updates, backups, and monitoring, while you keep ownership of your domain.
For safety, confirm three things in writing: who owns the domain login, where DNS is hosted, and who can access the hosting account. Also turn on auto renew for the domain and keep the registrar email current so you do not miss renewal notices.
If you are sorting out SSL, redirects, or site trust signals, this connects closely to HTTPS, and our answer on whether HTTPS affects SEO explains what changes when your site switches from http to https.
If your site feels slow after a move, hosting quality and DNS changes are common culprits, and our why websites load slowly FAQ can help you narrow down the cause before you spend money in the wrong place.
When you are ready to build or rebuild the site itself, hosting is only the foundation, and our web design services cover the pages, structure, and conversion flow that turn traffic into calls and bookings.
If you tell us your domain provider and where your site is hosted, we can map the setup in plain English and point out any risks, like an expiring domain, duplicate DNS zones, or missing email records, before they turn into downtime.
